News & Press

RETURN TO
News & Press

ITV America, Smith Entertainment ink development deal

Realscreen

by: Daniele Alcinii

ITV America has secured a development deal with Smith Entertainment, the production company run by former two-time NBA champion and current basketball analyst Kenny Smith.

Under the multi-year partnership, Smith and his wife and producing partner Gwendolyn Osborne-Smith will develop and produce projects across reality, lifestyle, docuseries, and competition shows, among others, for broadcast, cable and streaming platforms under the ITV America banner.

Smith spent more than a decade in the NBA as a point guard, most notably with the Houston Rockets, winning back-to-back NBA championships in 1993-94 and 1994-95. He now serves as a host of TNT’s long-running Inside the NBA.

Gwendolyn Osborne-Smith, meanwhile, is an actress, model and recording artist who has, for the last 12 years, appeared on the long-running hit game show The Price is Right. The couple have also previously starred together in TBS’s reality series Meet the Smiths in 2015.

The deal was brokered by Edward Simpson, ITV America’s EVP of business development and international; and by David Eilenberg, president of ITV Entertainment.

Smith Entertainment is repped by Maury Gostfrand at Vision Sports.

“Kenny and Gwendolyn are a modern-day power couple with incredible ideas and plans to create groundbreaking programming,” said ITV America CEO Brent Montgomery in a statement. “We’re excited to collaborate with them in this creative partnership and to bring their great taste and sensibilities to multiple platforms.”

“Working with Brent, a great trailblazer in the industry, makes us extremely excited for this partnership,” added Kenny Smith. “ITV America allows Gwendolyn and I, along with our company, an unbelievable producing platform. It gives us an incredible home for our one-of-a-kind content.”